non switchers: what can wotc do to win you back?

[Ulrick]

nothing can bring me back at this point

After 4e came out, I bought the core books, Adventurer's Vault, and finally Open Grave. I was excited, I thought 4e seemed simpler to run (like 2e). I ran a couple one-shot games and enjoyed myself. But then I ran a campaign and did not enjoy it for many of the reasons that have been cited here on EnWorld and elsewhere. WotC does not have products I am willing to buy.

It is, however, kind of a bummer going to my FLGS and skipping over the D&D section because there's nothing of interest there.

 

[qstor]

I'm not really happy with 4e. I think next week might be the last time I play it.

I've played LFR a few times and DM'd it twice. I'm into Pathfinder now. Its what my friends are playing and I enjoy it. I've bought the 4e books but it really doesn't do anything for me. Like a few people said on the boards here. 4e doesn't seem like D&D. If you enjoy it great. I like GURPS and Traveller too so there are other RPG's I enjoy. For fantasy RPG's I enjoy the Ars Magica setting but have never played the rules.

Mike

 

[Primal]

This.

Pathfinder RPG is my game, DnD 4E is not.

As far as I am concerned, if we all use the rule set we like the most, and then we all have fun.

-- david
Papa.DRB

This, absolutely. I might try playing in a 4E campaign, but I only know 3E/PF RPG groups in my local area. Still, I prefer PF RPG and would not buy the books or subscribe to DDI.

 

[concerro]

Yeah I know, this is so last year.

Anyway, poll coming up, not an edition war thread, blah blah blah

EDIT: For those asking, by "non switchers" I meant "not switching to 4e".
Of course every opinion is welcome.

And by "winning you back" I meant as a customer. I was mostly thinking of D&D (any edition) but I guess other wotc products are also relevant.

The only edition they are supporting is 4E, which I dont play. I still play 3.5

 

[Alzrius]

The things that WotC would need to do to win me back are the things they'd almost certainly never do.

I quite enjoy 3.5/Pathfinder. While the 4E rules system itself is very good at accomplishing what it was made to do, what it was made to do doesn't feel like D&D to me. Hence, there's really nothing that WotC can do to interest me in playing it.

Now, if they started getting active with 3.5, the OGL, or older edition products, I'd get interested in a hurry. Whether it was bringing back digital sales of older edition materials (in a way that lets you own it forever after one purchase), adding new 3.5 material to the SRD, or even putting 4E under the OGL so that it could be freely tweaked and modified (which I think would allow a truly stunning 3E/4E hybrid to be created), those would all be things that would make me seriously consider giving them my money. As it stands now, I haven't spent a dime on them since 4E came out, and I don't intend to under the current status quo.

That last point isn't helped by the way they're running their company now, either. Killing the print magazines, taking forever and a day to get the DDI up and running (and from what I understand, it still doesn't do everything they promised), the absolute fiasco with the GSL, pulling all PDF sales, the fansite "policy," and on and on, they just aren't a company I have faith in any longer.

I don't expect that WotC will make older edition materials available, nor add more content to the SRD or OGL; and if they're not interested in doing those things, I'm not interested in them.

 

[merelycompetent]

Other.

Up until about 3 months ago, I would have said: Make a way for me to easily convert my 3.0/3.5E game to the new edition.

That ship has sailed. At this point, it's just not worth my time and effort, even if WotC put out a perfect conversion method for my group to go to 4E.

For each previous edition of the game (starting with OD&D), I've purchased the core rules, gone through them, thought about them. Until 4E, I've tried them out because the "cost" in my time and effort to convert existing campaigns to the new edition looked like it was significantly less than starting over from scratch.

Two things *might* make me become a WotC customer again:

1) They're already producing good, solid gaming material that I'm interested in, for 4E. But I'm not spending more than $15 to maybe try it out and mine it for ideas. A reasonable electronic version would figure strongly in favor of buying to try.

2) New edition of the game that is compatible with previous editions. I'm disregarding 4E in this regard. I won't buy the core rules of the next edition just for the sake of checking it out; I have to be sold on it. It has to be worth my time, effort, and entertainment budget.

For now, Paizo and some of the others have my dollars.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I'm interpreting "win me back" as "get me to buy something."

I'm not interested in the newer editions, so there's not much hope for WotC, there. I'd buy PDFs of TSR-era products, were they made available (I own a lot of these, already, but there are still some I might pick up, especially if it was a quality PDF). I'd buy reprinted versions of certain TSR-era products: for example, the 1e PH, DMG, MM, and the OD&D booklets and supplements. On reprints, I'd be interested in true reprints; if WotC gave into the temptation to edit, tweak, and add new layout or art, my interest level would drop to right around zero. Lastly, I'd also consider purchasing *new* material for older editions, if it was well-done and congruent with the style and approach that I prefer.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I chose the first and last choices.

The publishing of the Dark Sun setting is enough to get me to learn the system. All by itself. But only begrudgingly.

Secondly, for "other", they could win me back by simply making the DDI as equally Mac OS/iPhone compatible as it is Windows compatible.

 

[Psion]

Publish a game that interests me.

 

[pawsplay]

It is, however, kind of a bummer going to my FLGS and skipping over the D&D section because there's nothing of interest there.

What, no My Little Ponycorn? Actually, I almost sprang for a beholder, until I noticed 1) it's... shiny, 2) it's not really a sphere, more like an unfixed eyeball or a soft-boiled egg, 3) spike beard?, and 4) it's Huge, which means it's only a good mini for advanced beholders.